Loyola Just Glad To Be `Home`

Loyola`s road-weary Ramblers head into Homecoming Week with games Wednesday and Sunday against arch rivals De Paul and Marquette.

At least the games are at home, or in the case of the De Paul game, at the Horizon that both teams call home.

One problem that won`t abate for coach Will Rey`s team is its lack of depth. Xavier`s superior manpower wore down the Ramblers (7-14, 1-8) when they suffered their fourth straight Midwestern Collegiate Conference road loss, 87-74, on Saturday.

``Xavier was able to bring a lot of players off the bench in the second half, and it simply wore us down,`` said Rey, whose team led much of the first half.

Loyola played only seven men and got just seven points off its bench. Keith Gailes scored 24 points, and 6-foot-7-inch freshman center Kerman Ali made nine rebounds and hit all five shots he tried. But Ali got into foul trouble, and his 6-11 replacement, Bernie Salthe, scored only three free throws.